Here in Utah, July 24th is a holiday. It's Pioneer Day, a day to remember our pioneer ancestors. David was home this weekend so it was the perfect time for a mini family vacation in downtown Salt Lake City.

Our hotel was right by City Creek Center, which features some cool water fountains.
On Friday morning, the kids got up early to find and save us seating on the parade route.
We watched the Days of 47 parade.
This was one of our favorite floats! The octopus was fun.
And we loved the jellyfish marching behind.

Marissa looks so cute in braids!
Why was Darcie hiding her face?
She had fallen asleep!
Jonah and the Whale.
The BYU float. Zach attends BYU.

The parade was a lot of fun.
More pics to come! We saw a Bee's game that night, followed by an awesome fireworks show.

Our last official Camp Musketeers day was my favorite. It was Nature Day. The kids started off by making a craft. It wasn't really a nature craft, but we had enough cans for each kid to decorate their own and I thought they turned out great.
While the cans were drying, Marissa sent the kids out on a nature scavenger hunt. They each had a list of items to collect, such as "something pretty" and "something red" and "something bumpy" and "something that makes noise".

Noticing an extra kid? Our neighbor came over for the day to join in the fun.
After the nature scavenger hunt, we packed up and drove to a little zoo here in the valley.
Baby wouldn't turn around for the picture.
She was too busy looking at this little guy!
Here the kids were all crouched down to talk to some ducks.
And here the boys were feeding ducks.
I love turtles!
Everyone helped out with the littlest one.
The reindeer were a bit hit!

This weekend has been extra fun because not only are my awesome nieces and nephews here with us, but Zach has been here since Saturday morning. In fact, he arrived just in time to join us for a waffle breakfast, which is a Saturday tradition in our family.

Saturday was Minecraft Day. It was the first time I allowed the boys to play on their Kindle-Fires and you know what? Without their Kindles handy, every morning they wake up and play a board game together. While the boys put together a paper version of Minecraft, Marissa and my niece made these adorable paper sack puppets.

Saturday evening the kids gathered around our fire pit to roast hotdogs.
Sunday was Pioneer Day. The kids created their own wagons.